Grocery inflation rises once more as family grocery store journeys hit four-year excessive

Grocery value inflation rose once more in October however households shrugged off will increase with a four-year excessive in grocery store procuring journeys, figures present.

Supermarket costs have been 2.3% greater than a yr in the past final month, up barely on September’s 2% improve however nonetheless inside “typical levels”, in line with analysts Kantar.

Despite the rise, take-home gross sales throughout the grocers elevated by 2.3% over the 4 weeks to November 3 to succeed in £11.6 billion, making it the largest gross sales month of the yr to date, and coinciding with the variety of procuring journeys made by households reaching 480 million.

Halloween performed an element in galvanising gross sales, with 3.2 million households shopping for not less than one pumpkin, whereas spending on confectionery hit £525 million as gross sales of goodies and sweets climbed by 13% and seven% respectively.

Households are already stocking up for Christmas, with 648,000 customers having already purchased a Christmas cake, and 14.4% of households picked up mince pies in October.

Fraser McKevitt, head of retail and shopper perception at Kantar, mentioned: “October 2024 was the busiest month for the supermarkets since March 2020, when people were preparing for the first national lockdown.

“Trip numbers have been going up gradually for some time, but this steady march hasn’t reached pre-Covid levels of shopping frequency just yet. The average for each household is slightly over four trips per week.

“What’s interesting this month is the number of households who are already stocking up the cupboards for the big day in December. Some people think Christmas ads hit our screens too soon but it’s clearly important for retailers to set out their stalls early.”

Ocado topped the expansion desk, boosting its gross sales by 9.5% over the 12 weeks, whereas Lidl’s gross sales have been up by 7.4% to make it the quickest rising retailer with a bricks and mortar presence for the fifteenth interval in a row.

Tesco outperformed the broader market with gross sales rising by 4.6% taking it to 27.9% of the market, up 0.6 share factors on final yr, whereas spending at Sainsbury’s climbed 4.4%, making its general share 15.5%.

Asda’s gross sales are down 5.5% on a yr in the past, holding 12.5% of the market, whereas Morrison’s gross sales grew by 2.4%, outpacing the market common for the primary time since June 2021.

The figures come as a swathe of excessive avenue companies together with Sainsbury’s and Asda warned over the influence of tax rises within the Budget.

Asda mentioned the rise in employer taxes would “probably be inflationary to some degree”, with it anticipating to face £100 million in further prices.

Last week, Sainsbury’s warned of a £140 million hit, whereas Marks & Spencer mentioned it was anticipating £60 million in further prices, which will likely be pushed greater by a rise to the nationwide minimal wage.